Monthly Archives: August 2018

Four people from Thorney—Jean Underhay, Dorothy Halfhide, Jake Wing and Ken Sheraton—abseiled down the side of Peterborough Cathedral this summer, helping to raise £38,000 for charity.

Jean (83) writes about her experience here:

Many years ago, when we first came to this area, we saw people abseiling down the blank Woolworths wall and I thought to myself, ‘That looks fun.’ Two years ago I was with the Ground Team when the Cathedral first put on an abseiling event. There was a lady older than me doing it. So earlier this year, when the Cath-edral was doing another charity abseil, I promptly signed up.

When the day came, friend John drove me in and we met several friends and my son, Jonathan, who had come to support. Most importantly, the Derby Mountain Rescue Team was there to put us into our harness and cope with the ropes.

Then onto the thing I was dreading, the steps up the tower. Friend Mandy and one of the rescue people came with me as the steps were in a spiral so I could only see about two or three steps at a time. So up I went.

At the top was a lady from the team who attached a gadget to the harness. She kept hold of the blue safety rope and gently urged me back to the ledge. I must admit to a frisson of apprehension at that point, knowing there was 150 feet of nothing below me. Then I was over the ledge and feeding the white rope to guide my speed. I was on my way.

Dorothy Halfhide had come down half an hour earlier, with such grace and dignity that I wanted to emulate her, not do a circular dance as the Dean had done some time before. My friends down below were cheering me on. I took great care going over the carvings, didn’t want to risk damaging anything. Then I was down.

It had been exhilarating. So many people had sponsored me, there was no way I was going to chicken out at the last moment. A member of the charity gave me a certificate and the Mayor gave me a brooch with the City of Peterborough coat of arms. Itreasure both items. It had been a lovely day.

Thorney’s girl guide group reaches the grand old age of 65 this year – but the unit is a long way from being pensioned off.

Guides, Brownies and Rainbows in the village are thriving, with each group almost full to capacity and there is an active Rangers group catering for those over 14.

The 2nd Thorney Guides was launched in 1953, with the late Kath Martin as leader. There had been a 1st Thorney Guides in the village for some years before, but no-one is quite sure when that stopped.

The current unit is now led by Denise Burton, only the fourth Guides leader in 65 years. Denise took over from her mother Sheila Bowen, who took over from Margaret Dewing.

A 65th birthday party was held at the old Methodist Chapel on The Causeway in June when past guides, parents and village leaders were invited. There was cake, singing and a raffle, and the occasion was also marked by the presentation of new standards to guides and brownies.

The units have been without standards for a few years after the old ones basically dropped to pieces from age. This has meant that they haven’t been able to take part in parades such as Remembrance Sunday.

The new standards were donated by Dorothy Halfhide, herself a former girl-guide, and given in memory of her father, who died earlier this year.

“It is great the see the groups in such a good state,” said Denise. “We have a really nice atmosphere across Guides, Brownies and Rainbows and, although some are nearly full, we’re still able to offer places to girls who want to join.

“Guiding is a great way to make friends and learn some life skills. We keep re-inventing the movement to keep it relevant to today’s children.

“It is also wonderful to see mums and grandmothers who were in Thorney Guides themselves, now bringing their girls along to meetings.”

Margaret Dewing, second guide leader, has happy memories of girl-guides. She remembers the early camps held in Kath Martin’s garden on Whittlesey Road and, later, the get-togethers at the guide camp on the Fitzwilliam estate. “We were all in big tents back then and the conditions were a bit basic. Some girls were horrified when they saw the bucket latrines!”

Margaret’s one real regret was the change of uniform. “I really liked the old uniform,” she said. “It just looked smarter, more formal, but it did need a bit of ironing.”

Sheila Bowen had a long association with the guides. She got involved back in her native Wales and as well as leading the 2nd Thorney Guides, she has also served as both district and divisional commissioner and badge secretary for the county.

She also remembers life under canvas. “We had to put our own tents up and then the commissioner would come round to inspect them and if one was a few inches out of line, it had to come down and be put back up in the right place.

“There were no hair-dryers or showers in those days.”

Guides still do summer camps and also use the PGL Holidays activity centre.

Denise Burton, who’s lived in Thorney since 1980, has been made an MBE for Service in the Community and Guiding. Her team leader at work nominated her for this and Denise was completely unaware her name had been put forward, till a letter from the Cabinet Office dropped through her letter box on 3rd May. With great difficulty I should think, Denise had to keep this a secret, until it was announced officially on 8th June in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List.

Denise told me her first reaction was one of shock and she still won’t believe it till she actually receives the award. At the moment she doesn’t have a date for the ceremony and doesn’t know if she will have to attend Buckingham Palace or Windsor Castle. Denise has also received a congratulatory letter from the Countess of Wessex, who is president of the Guides.

Her long association with the Guides started when Denise joined the Girls’ Brigade when her family lived in Cardiff. When she was eight she joined the Brownies and then progressed to the Guides where her mother was a helper. Later she also went on to help her mother who had her own Guide unit in Carmarthen and then became a Ranger with the Brownies. A Ranger is a young leader.

eing a guide leader means not only organising the weekly meetings with games, crafts, and working for badges but also taking the children away to camp. In 1976 600 children went to a camp in mid Wales. It was a very hot summer and many of them got sunstroke. There was also a trip to an army outdoor pursuits centre where abseiling, potholing and an army assault course could be tried out.

A course booklet has to be completed before a person becomes a leader. This covers all aspects of Guiding. It is then signed off and a warrant is awarded that lasts till the person is 65. In addition 15 hours of training per year have to be undertaken and the leader is also DBS checked.

When Denise and her family moved to Thorney she’d already decided she wasn’t going to continue being a Guide leader. However, the local Brownie group was in danger of folding due to lack of help so Denise got involved to help Janet Jary. and has continued ever since. Denise enjoys interacting with the girls, seeing them mature and make life long friendships, watching them change and gain confidence.

Denise plans to carry on Guiding at the present time. She would like to visit China’ where her nephew is an English teacher, and has put news of his aunt’s award on his blog.

Proud grandparents Brian and Carol Payne are celebrating having an Aussie surfing champion in the family.

Their granddaughter Maddie Cawood has just won the Western Australian Under-16 Surfing Championship.

Maddie, aged 15, won the title at Geraldton, Western Austrian, battling huge waves from the Indian Ocean.

She is already All-Australia Schools Champion.

Maddie is the daughter of Michaela (nee Payne) and Peter Cawood. Michaela was born in Thorney and the couple lived here for a short while. Maddie actually went to the Duke of Bedford School for a year, and was five when the family emigrated.

“Michaela and Peter spent a year backpacking in Australia and they liked the country so much they decided they wanted to live there,” said Brian.

They now live at Margaret River, about three hours drive from Perth, a stretch of coastline where there are magnificent beaches and huge waves.

“She took up surfing around seven years ago,” says grandfather Brian. “She had been a really promising gymnast, but it got a little intensive and stopped being fun.

“In surfing events, all the competitors have to swim out from the beach and part of the skill is picking the right wave. You then get marked for difficulty, duration and distance. It’s quite complicated.”

Brian and Carol live in St Mary’s Close and have been in the village for 48 years. Brian served in the village fire crew for many years and was in the crew that attended the crash of the US Air Force Starlifter transport plane on Thorney Dyke in 1976. Carol will be known to many people in the village, working as receptionist in the doctors’ surgery at both Park House and the Thorney Medical Centre.

The couple make regular trips to Australia to keep in touch and they’re trying out the new non-stop service from London to Perth – a 17-hour flight – later this year.

Michael Sly, organiser of Open Farm Weekend at Park Farm, Thorney has promised to revamp traffic management for next year’s event.

Beautiful sunny weather for this year’s event attracted record crowds of 12,500, with 7,500 coming on the Sunday.

“We’re really sorry for the problems caused to people, especially those along Sandpit Road,” said Michael.

“I think the good weather persuaded more people to come and a third of them arrived in the first hour.”

Traffic was backed up through the village, causing many people to remember the old pre-bypass days when Thorney was gridlocked at weekends by traffic heading for the coast.

“We have looked at traffic management and will make some changes for next year,” said Michael. “Instead of entering along Sandpit Road, we’ll bring them in through Old Knarr Fen Road. This will mean non-village traffic can come along the bypass, come off at the New Cut roundabout and they won’t touch the village itself.

“We’ll use Sandpit Road as the exit, but people tend to leave in a steady stream, rather than all at once, so traffic will be more spread out. We’ll also have more stewards in the car park to help people park more quickly.

“I want to thank everyone for their positive messages and especially the police, Newborough Young Farmers and our stewards who worked really hard.”

The Park Farm weekend is now the largest Open Farm event in the country. The scheme, run by the National Farmers’ Union, aims to help educate people about how our food is grown.

Michael says he wanted to create a family day out that would leave happy memories and present a positive view of rural Britain. As well as a showcase for farming old and new, the event is also a massive charity fundraiser.

Thorney Youth project has ordered the play equipment for the park and it should be installed during the summer. Committee member Samantha Godley gives us a run-down of their activities since April.

Well what a busy and exciting few months since our last Thorney Post update!

We had a great Fun Day at Bedford Hall in May and it was fab to see so many people, we raised £1257.27 on the day through the fundraising, donations and stall holders. In June, we were at the Park Farm Open Weekend both days, thank you to everyone who supported us and helped us raise £201.49 that weekend.

Our latest event, ‘Picnic in the Park’, saw over 200 people come out for what was a community event to bring people in the village together in the park. It also allowed us to show people where the equipment will go in the park, allowing people to comment or feedback to us on the day. Thank you to everyone who came along, we even raised £102.71.

Equipment Location

The photo below shows where the equipment will go in relation to the play area already in the park. The equipment will face each other so that parents can keep an eye on all their children whatever their age. If you have any comments or feedback on the location of the equipment please let us know.

Recent Funding Applications and Donations

We applied to Mick George for funding but, unfortunately, we were unsuccessful. They had a large number of applications for the money available and we cannot reapply to them.

We have also received further donations equalling £4,000. The donors wish to be anonymous but a huge thank you. You know who you are. We have also been given £1,000 Community Leadership Foundation money by Peterborough City Council.

Our order has been placed!

This brings our total to £35,168.97 and thank to a discount from Caloo we only need to raise £39,600. However, if we did not raise the remaining money by August 31, we would lose a £5,000 grant from Larkfleet Homes. Thorney Parish Council has very kindly lent us the rest of the money we need.

So, we have ordered the equipment with a provisional date of 10th September, though this may change. It does mean that the equipment will not be in the park for the Summer Holidays but that is because we have changed the two trampolines for one trampoline which is wheelchair accessible. The wheelchair accessible trampoline takes a little longer to build, hence not having it installed by the holidays. It will be worth it though!

Upcoming Events

We need to continue raising money so that we can replay Thorney Parish Council the money they have lent us to complete the project. We will be at the Thorney Music Festival next month, where we have been chosen as one of the official supported charities, thank you to the organisers for choosing us.

We have the talent competition and the mediumship night on 23rd September and the pamper event on 6th October.

A Big Thank You

We just want to say a massive Thank You to everyone who supported us in one way or another. Whilst we still have fundraising to do to repay Thorney Parish Council, we couldn’t have got this far without the support from you all – Thank You!

Pete Chelton, who has been co-ordinating the delivery of the Thorney Post magazine for 16 years, is calling it a day.

Peter (83) has lived in the village for the past 56 years also had a long association with Thorney Football Club as committee member and secretary, and as Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator for Woburn Drive.

Born in London, Pete was evacuated to Monmouthshire during the Second World War to escape German bombing raids. He wrote about his experiences in the Thorney Post and was asked to give talks to local schoolchildren about his experiences.

He and his wife Marion, who celebrate their diamond wedding anniversary in November, came to live in Thorney by chance. On their honeymoon, they met a couple from Ramsey and struck up a friendship. They visited their friends from time to time and decided to sell up in London and move to this area.

The plans didn’t go quite as expected and they ended up living in Gladstone Street, Peterborough for a while before finding their current home in Woburn Drive.

Fifty-six years ago, Woburn Drive and the roads off it, were just being built. Pete and Marion moved into a new house and their home, plus Russell Close, were the first to be developed. Their youngest child John was just two weeks old when they moved in.

Besides John, they have two other children – Debbie and Sue – six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Pete worked for British Telecom for 38 years and then, after taking early retirement, he spent seven years with the Co-operative Funeral Services.

“Thorney had a real community feel when we came here,” said Pete. “After living in the city, it felt really nice. Everyone seemed to be really close knit and there were lots of community events. I think we’ve lost some of that.”

Editor’s note – we’re really grateful to Pete for all his work and contributions to the village magazine over the years. At the age of 83, he really has done his bit for the village.